Wooing a Man Was Never as Simple as Fox Thought
by my black crimson rose
Summary: Fox wasn't exactly looking forward to the dance, but well, it still meant something. Well, enough of something that he wanted a date for it. But noooo that damn mission lasted longer than it should've and suddenly it was the night of the dance and he didn't have a date. But maybe this stranger didn't have one either... [Fox/Sage Pairing]
1. Catch My Eye

**Trying to figure out a ship name for them. And don't judge me, I'm writing a Tauradonna story and this couple is a side couple and I've kinda fallen in love with them (the character personalities i have for them in my head).**  
><strong>Fox= fiery, sassy SOB, snarky too<strong>  
><strong>Sage= quiet, calm, in control, caring<strong>  
><strong>Those are the base personality that I have for them. The other stuff just branches out from that.<strong>

**This is also up on AO3, I typically post everything there first before moving it to here. **

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><p>The team didn't arrive back from their mission until four hours before the dance even started—much to Fox's annoyance. His team had spent so damn long in their preparations for the damn event and they couldn't even see it fully to the end. He didn't trust the other team that took over to do their work any justice.<p>

And the worst part was... he didn't get a damn date for it.

Velvet was flying solo, only really popping in and out of it to show her support for the hard work that everyone had done (including herself). But he knew that she was just a little bit peeved that she couldn't go out with someone of her choice—as in a date. And Fox didn't exactly make her cut; she wanted someone who'd might be willing to kiss her at the end of the evening. Like some stupid fairy tail bullshit that they've all be fed as children.

See, Velvet did have a point though. He liked dick—actually he was open to both sexes, he just preferred men over women. They seemed to be a little more fiery—less breakable. He could drop them a couple of times and they won't bend or shatter or break. And when he pushed they tended to push back. So, all in all, Fox tended to stick to men—but a few of the ladies did have a little spark in them that he enjoyed.

But even if Velvet was a man, he wouldn't take her. Well, him in that case. Velvet was just too... cushy. Too soft and cuddly. He wanted someone all hard edges and strong—someone that he could gnaw at for hours and he still wouldn't be able to find the soft juicy bits.

Someone like...

Fox paused just before he was to enter his dorm room. Eyebrows drawn down and forehead creased as he took in the dark skinned male with green hair.

...someone like him would do.

Fox grinned, taking a quick waft of his clothes before making his way to the obviously waiting male. He smelt decent enough considering his return to campus. "Hey," he started out, drawing the male's golden eyes towards him. Mmmh, Fox did always love that golden colour. "Can I help you with anything?" he stopped just short of the green haired male, propping a hand up to his waist.

"Just waiting for a friend," the male replied. And oh did his voice ever sound like music to his ears, all rich and sensual like the colour of his skin.

Fox hummed something to himself before moving to lean against the wall beside this unnamed male, "haven't seen you around here before, what's your name?" he glanced up at the tattooed male from the corner of his eyes and was pleasantly surprised to see the unnamed male hold his gaze. "The name's Fox," he tilted his head, smiling slyly up at the taller male.

"Sage," the male, Sage, replied. Voice still as steady and unchanging as it was before. Damn, Fox really wanted to make this male loose his cool. Maybe crack a smile or something—or, better yet, see a waver in that calm and controlled look of his. Fox got the sense that this dude was seemingly always in control of his emotions—and even if he wasn't it seemed that way.

"So, Sage, are you thinking about going to that dance?"

The taller male shrugged a shoulder, "been tossing the idea around," he replied easily. And now here was the moment that Fox could swoop in a suggest that they get to know each other better and dance away the evening. It would've been the perfect moment too, if not for the blond and blue haired males calling out for Sage and the green haired boy made a movement to leave. "That's me," he spoke causing the frown on Fox's face to deepen, "I'll see you around."

The male waved over his shoulder as he joined his friends.

Fox muttered a few curses under his breath, quickly escaping to his dorm room a few doors down.


	2. Dance, Dance

Fox rolled into the dance dressed to impressed; showered, nose powdered (its a figure of speech. He didn't actually powder his nose... neither Coco nor Velvet had dark enough powder for him to do so), cologne spritzed onto his neck, and face clean shaven. He looked _stunning_, if he does say so himself.

The first years were grooving in the middle of the dance floor like they owned the place even though it was the beginning of the night and the important people (ie. The older students) wouldn't arrive until the dance was well into the swing of things. It was always the unspoken rule of things.

The older you get in schools, the cooler you become—or so that would seem.

Fox quickly went over a mental checklist as he entered; hair in an orderly fashion? Check. Breath fresh? Check. Suit pressed and fitted right? Check and check. All he was missing was a date, he glared at the crowd dancing and mingling. The rest of his team was already here and either dancing or holding out a small conversation with someone else in their class.

The blonde girl from team RWBY welcomed him with a large grin and a warm "Hello, how are you?" in which Fox replied with his own crooked grin before continuing to survey the room.

"Did a dark skinned boy with green hair enter at all?" he might as well ask, she would know better than anyone else if Sage had arrived at all yet. Based on the quick conversation that he had had with him, Sage seemed to have been tossing the idea around. Hopefully he had settled in coming to the event and not sitting it out—not that he would blame the male either. Dances were kinda lame.

"Oh, Sage?" his head could not have snapped back in her direction any quicker. That was the magic name. _Sage_, it rolled nicely off his tongue while he was dolling himself up for this event. "He's actually _riiiiight_ over there," she pointed towards the back corner where a redhead (Fox assumed the redhead was male based on the suit he was wearing) was adjusting his suit jacket, nattering about it not looking right.

"Thanks," Fox threw his thanks at the blonde before creeping up towards the duo. Sage was calmly (still with the calm, huh?) sipping at his punch, eyes skimming over the heads on the dance floor, head nodding at just the right places too keep his redheaded companion ranting. Fox's lips settled into a grin, a bounce in his step as he _sashayed_ up to the pair. "Hey," his tooth pricked against his bottom lip. Pulled tight as he levelled Sage with his charming smile.

"Hi yourself," the tallest of the three replied, posture settling back as he hooked a finger through his belt loop. The redhead arched a well groomed eyebrow at the interaction, mouth closing with a soft _tick_ of teeth as he settled back to watch the scene unfold.

The orange haired boy flicked the hair out of his vision leisurely, eyebrow raising almost against his will. He was smug, he wasn't about to deny that. Fox prided himself in a lot of things, but he wasn't vain. And as much as some people liked to argue with him about, he did in fact have a heart. It was just tucked deep inside, under all the sarcasm, sass, fiery retorts, and over confidant thoughts about himself. After all, the only way to gain confidence is to pretend that you have it until you actually do, right?

But that wasn't it; he also took after his namesake. And really, what was his parents thinking? Calling him Fox and not thinking that he'd _maybe_ one day hit the ground running with that name and _enjoy_ causing mayhem and mischief. "Care to dance?" he grinned. This was it, this is where he'd sweep him up and tuck this green haired boy to his side. Showering him with just enough back-handed compliments that'll keep Sage guessing.

It always worked when someone tried it on Fox—made him think that _maybe_, just _maybe_, this one could withstand him and give him a run for his money before he broke them in. Or, _maybe_, they wouldn't break. Fox always hopped for the later.

"Not with a pompous prick like you," that one reply shattered everything. Fox's aloft posture, Fox's smug little grin, his plans—all of them. He didn't have a back up plan for this, this had never happened before.

"This guy has one hell of a bitch face," the redhead stage whispered towards his friend. And Fox ground his teeth together. That son of a bitch—_**son of a bitch! **_He exhaled heavily through his nose; a tenseness he didn't even know he had fallen into dissipated.

Sage continued to watch the orange haired male with a small lift in his lips, easily hidden when he'd take a sip from seemingly endless punch in his glass. His free hand still settled around his hips, thumb still hooked through his belt loop.

He was fucking with him—this bastard was testing him.

Fox's eyebrow climbed right back up to the place it was originally, shoulder dipping just slower than the other. "I'm called Fox for a reason," he warned the green haired male. And you know what he did? Sage smirked, he full blown smirked!

"Is that so?" he challenged leaning slightly forwards. Fox's gaped; he was throwing all shorts of mixed signals at him. But he was interested... he was interested right? Fox closed his mouth, grinding his teeth together. He should really take his leave now; gather his thoughts and plan his next plan of attack.

He was going to woo this boy—he was going to do the greatest wooing Beacon had ever seen. Just you watch.

The orange haired male forced his lips up into a large grin, "enjoy the dance," he hopped it sounded like a nice sensual purr. But he wouldn't exactly be surprised if he spat it out as he made his haste retreat, mock solute and everything. With three long strides Fox hissed out between clenched teeth—he knew he had just possibly (read: royally) fucked that up, but he knew that if he lurked around any longer it would've only gotten worse.

"Yatshuhashi!" he snapped causing the seven foot tall male to turn his attentions away from his date. Fox gripped the collar of his suit and pulled him down to his level, "I need your help wooing someone." He was ignoring the feeling of a pair of eyes watching him. He knew he was watching, but he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of looking back.

"You need my help?" he sounded doubtful; which he should. Fox didn't woo—he didn't really have to. But this Sage fellow was a hard nut to crack... and Fox _loved_ a challenge.


	3. Progression

**M.B.C.R says: **This is not how blindness works!

Do not expect anything revolving around Fox's eyes to be real! That is fake, FAKE FAKE FAKE! It was me doing some serious damage control after the last episode when I went "I'm guessing you're blind and I kinda like that".

If you've been reading other stuff that I've been writing with Fox in it and he isn't blind he has bad eyesight and wears contacts and/or glasses. I'm writing that soon. Also for the future stuff, not strictly for this UA (universe alteration), I will tag what the situation with Fox's eyes. It'll be either semi-blind!Fox for this series, or Blind!Fox for others, or maybe even Not blind!Fox for some... normally the not blind Fox gets the hipster glasses/contacts.

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><p>Fox played it off really well, and his heightened hearing allowed him to continue to get away with it. But the truth of the matter was that Fox couldn't really see. Just look at his eyes, what's the first thing that you thought when <em>you<em> saw them?! That's right. And his teammates joked that his semblance was being able to see attractive people, and only attractive people, at a distance (as well as in the normal bubble of where he could see in).

'Cause Fox really did have a habit of being able to spot and pinpoint the really cute ones.

It started with finding Coco after the launch in their first year. Then grouping up with Velvet and Yatshuhashi, both of whom he could see. He liked to think that they were the most attractive team at Beacon (winning the title with only Coco and he, but Yatshuhashi and Velvet are _very pleasing_ to the eyes). Then came a guy named Lindon (that Coco ended up dating after she and Fox split, and of course after Fox and the dude made out), a girl named Talia, a guy named Daniel... and a bunch of random assortment of guys who Fox could not remember the names of.

Not like he cared.

"Dude," the blue haired teen breathed out in awe. He exhaled loudly and it became louder due to the fact that _this dude was **in his personal space**_. His face popping in and out of focus with some goofy dumbass grin as he shifted into the limited field of vision that Fox still had—each day it seemed to only get smaller and smaller. Guess that's what happens when you sustain too much head trauma, was naturally gifted with shit vision (thanks Dad), and hated wearing glasses and/or contacts (oops). "Are you blind?!" he exclaimed waving his hand in front of Fox's face.

Fox wanted to punch him—oh god did he ever want to punch this kid's lights out.

"You can't just ask if someone's blind!" If the shrill at the end of the sentence was anything to go by, then the person who replied was Jaune. Or something—he's going off what Velvet had said about the new students.

Poor thing got real sick (with cold after cold) last year and had to redo the first year history class.

In situations that he couldn't see people (and they didn't get close to the bubble in which he could see in), Coco and Velvet would quickly give him a description of who these people are and what they looked like. Normally it was just quick little things like... Sun is a monkey faunus, or Ruby has a red cape, or Dr. Oobleck was known as Dr. Spaz for the longest of times.

Coco laughed loudly, "He's just a little hard of sight. Ain't that right, doll-face?" She purred pecking his cheek. This was one of the things that carried over after their brief romantic relationship—the pecks on the cheek and the slapping his ass. "We like to say that Fox only sees hot people at a distance. It's his semblance~"

It wasn't, just to make it clear.

"So," the blue haired male from before drawled. The O's trailing longer than necessary before jumping to the part he really wanted to get to, "you can see me, right?" Blue-dude chuckled, and Fox wanted to join him.

He couldn't see him.

"No," Fox replied. The sound of blue-boy's hopes and dreams shattering brought great joy to Fox's little heart. Oh the joy of crushing others overly high hopes and expectations of themselves.

That, and fuck that guy for getting all up in his face earlier.

"You jerks!"

Fox knew that voice—it was Red from the dance. And oh, who was this? He picked up the sound of his breathing first; he memorized that sound of heavy sighing. The guy would push his breath out better clench teeth. Hello there sexy~! Fox's grin wavered when his vision expanded, ears picking up the male's heavy footsteps.

He even walked all sexy.

He was all mad too—oh just stick an arrow in his heart already and call him smitten!

"Oh c'mon! You can see _them_?!" blue-y groaned running a hand through his hair.

Blonde-y from team RWBY patted his shoulder, "there there hot stuff, you can't win them all." Fox could see her alright; he thinks it might be the golden blonde hair that caught his eye. She had a loud personality too.

Real out there and in your face.

Red and Sage ignored what was going on, going as far as to steamroll over the conversation and go straight to the tongue lashing—and not in any of the pleasant kinds. "You left us!" Red scolded jabbing their finger into both Monkey-boy and blue-shit's face, forcing both boys to focus their attentions on the redhead and Sage. "The both of you just ran off to _Gods_ know where! Our main focus was to ensure the safety of civilians, not to go gallivanting off to play kiss ass to your new friends!"

Fox could hear both their shoes scuff the ground, digging into the Earth was Red went on and on about responsibility and as the leader Sun should be the one responsible and blah blah blah. Fox tuned them out and slid towards the quiet member of SSSN who stood a little ways back from his team, glaring at the two teammates when they'd most likely spare him a pleading glance.

Fox was unsure whether he should say anything at this time or wait until he had calmed down fully after that little scrimmage. He always did tend to work himself up in a fight, going as far as to make his mood a little more testy than usual.

"Thanks for taking care of the situation," Sage's voice broke through his thoughts, startling Fox. Turns out he didn't even need to make the first move.

Fox recovered quickly with a shrug, "as an upper classmen it's kinda my responsibility, don't you think?" He winked, his lips pulling up into a wicked grin.

Sage scoffed, shaking his head. "Seriously though, thanks for making sure that these idiots didn't get into too much trouble," he made a small sweeping motion towards what Fox could only presume was the group.

"No problem."


	4. Woman Up

**M.B.C.R says: got a prompt on tumblr that called for fear of flight... so well... I did it!**

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><p>Coco had volunteered them for a joint mission with Team SSSN. Mostly it was because of what happened during their first mission—the whole GRIMM thing and all that. It had little to do with Fox's crush on the green haired teen... totally nothing to do with that.<p>

That was a lie; it had a lot to do with it.

The only problem about this mission would be the ride to the location. Fox was scared of flying—he hated it. She would admit that her partner hid his fears well now that he had grown used to it over the years. He would tell her it (his fear) was because of the sound, the fact that it made him dizzy and un-focused. She made him a deal halfway through first year and it still held up to this very day.

He was always the first one out of the Bullhead.

Always.

The two teams took off, the jets whirling and _whooshing_ loud enough to drown out Neptune and Scarlet's loud conversation. Fox's grip tightened on the handle by his head, knuckles paling under the strain.

"You gonna to be alright, Fox?" Sun called out over the wind from the opposite side of the haul.

"Don't worry about him!" Coco shouted back, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear that almost immediately began to flutter in the wind again. "He's just afraid of flying!" This earned her a snarl from her partner on her left, "Something about the noise and not being able to see." She elbowed Fox at that, the boney elbow digging in a spot right between his ribs.

He squirmed away from her.

"You should've seen him during first year," Yatsuhashi chuckled at the memories. "Coco and I had to hold him down," he went on to explain.

Velvet laughed turning to the other team," Yatsuhashi had to sit on him!" She covered her mouth with her free hand.

Sun grinned sheepishly, rubbing at his nose. Their gaze caught and Velvets smile leveled off to something a little more sheepish and _adorable_. Coco wanted to gather her up, stuff her into her purse and hide her from the rest of the world.

Every team had their own special dynamic. Some started dating each other (Coco tried this with Fox but that didn't work, and now there's a small blossoming thing between her and Yatsuhashi that both of them are trying out), others became the best of friends, others hated the other, some considered the team like one family with the roles of such, and some formed a gang of sort.

For Team CFVY it was more of a family where Coco inserted herself as the Mama figure and ruled this family with an iron fist of love (and bullets). She was a very stylish Mum, thanks, and she made sure her babies were dressed to the teeth with an equal amount of style. Velvet though, Velvet was like the baby of the group—their precious little bun. Fox even behaved like the temperamental teenaged brother, chasing away anyone that showed even a hint of having a crush on Velvet. And lastly came Yatsuhashi, the father-like figure of the group. He was truly a gentle giant.

"He's handling everything better than expected," Red replied ignoring Team SSSN's goofy leader and the green haired male to their right. Coco took to Fox's nicknames of others rather well. They were funny and fitting, and it was just a hell of a lot more fun to call them by these nicknames.

Sage raised a brow at the orange haired male across from him.

Fox grimaced back.

Sage shook his head, chuckling under his breath.

"We promised him that he could jump out of the Bullhead when we're close to our destination," she watched the childish exchange between both males. Coco shook her head, "which will happen in ten seconds."

Neptune sputtered, "wait wait wait! Are we all jumping—"

Coco slapped Fox's ass, jolting him out of whatever face making contest he had going with Sage. Fox grinned at her, finally seeming at peace for the first time this whole flight. Coco turned to the group with a wicked grin, "it's time to clench your butt cheeks and woman up, boys!"

Fox tipped out of the Bullhead, twisting in the air so he'd land on his feet. Velvet hooked arms Coco and both girls jumped, Coco letting out a loud but joyful "Woo!" on her way down. The last remaining member of Team CFVY stepped out of the airship quietly.

Scarlet huffed, pushing their hair back away from the left side of their face. The haircut was supposed to cover the right eye, not the left. "I will not be out classed by a chick in a beret!" Scarlet exclaimed grabbing Neptune by the collar of his sweater and pushed him from the ship. Scarlet turned back to the others to let out a "let's go losers!" before jumping out of the ship as well.

Sun grinned throwing his arms up and back-flipping out of the machine. Sage chuckled shaking his head, following behind his teammates and leader.

On the ground the group re-grouped and quickly asset the situation and went over the mission overview. "Our job is to help the town with their little GRIMM situation," Coco touched and flicked through the mission document on her tablet. "I don't want any fuck ups so don't show off that ass of yours, Fox," she pointed, pocketing her tablet.

Fox sneered, sticking his nose up into the breeze and let in a wift.

"Aww, look at—" Fox kicked out, connecting with the back of Neptune's calf, "—oww!"

Scarlet patted the blue-haired teen's head in a _there-there _fashion. "Stop poking the bear," Scarlet warned shaking their head.

Neptune whined, pouting as he shook out his leg in an attempt to lessen the pain as his aura started to kick in.

"Stop whining, I didn't even kick you that hard!" Fox called back from a few meters away. The orange haired male made quick work. "The village is this way," he nodded to the woods behind him.


	5. Snif Snif, Motherfuckers!

**M.B.C.R says: There be blood ahead. And at the end a character vomits, but that's nothing too serious. No one dies. **

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><p>Sun followed Coco's lead—she was the older student after all, and truthfully... she kinda scared him a bit. Okay, maybe a little more than a bit. "What kind of Grimm have you been having problems with?" the girl questioned, tablet open and the mission log open and ready for note taking.<p>

It was just the two of them talking to, Sun could only assume they were talking to, the mayor. The man went on in a list like fashion of the type of Grimm that has been attacking the village. The list included three common types: Beowolf, Boarbatusk, and Ursa. Those three weren't the problem, "but there's this other creature," the man trailed off after that.

Sun gulped; that did not sound good. Uncommon and unknown Grimm were tricky, they didn't have chapters and chapters on them in textbooks and they weren't covered in lectures and classes. Those ones were all trial and error.

Coco nodded, "we'll take care of it." She sounded so calm and collected—like this was just a normal everyday mission for Team CFVY, and Sun figures that it must be. Dealing with unknown and/or uncommon Grimm must be the norm for these people and Sun couldn't help but realize just how outclassed his team was.

She seemed to know what to do, what to say, and just how to take care of the situation while looking _so **fucking** cool_ while doing so. He wanted to be that awesome.

The two of them left the man after that, on the way back to their teams Sun leaned over to pose a question. "So how are we going to deal with this 'mystery Grimm' if we don't even have a description?" He paused, "or... y'know any other information about it?"

Coco grinned wrapping an arm around his shoulders and with the other she made a wide sweeping motion with her purse, "don't you worry your pretty blond locks." Sun merely raised a brow. She huffed, rolling her eyes and removing her arm from his person, "We have Fox hunting the thing."

The pair rounded the corner and found themselves in one of the entrances to the courtyard. The village was a pretty little thing; surrounded with trees with ruby red leaves, and buildings that most likely looked beautiful if not for all the attacks, and that courtyard. Sun was really loving the look of that fountain.

"Tell me you got something, Fox" she snapped her fingers in the seated male's direction. Fox sat hunched over on the lip of the fountain, the tips of his fingers drawing shapes in the water.

"It's reptilian," he began, flicking the water from his fingers. "Older Grimm too, has a lot of self control. It's most likely in a position of authority within the impromptu group." He stood, rolling his shoulders as he walked towards Sage who stood near the outside of the group. Velvet moved to follow him, knowing enough by now to follow close behind him when he got like that. He had the creature's scent memorized and now he was starting to truly track it.

He stopped in front of Sage, turning back around to face his leader and the remainder of the group. "It won't make its move until nightfall," he finished, fingers idly picking at his nails. Velvet pulled a face, smacking his hand—she hated it when he started the picking... it never stayed as picking, no no, it moved to biting and she spent too much time fixing those nail beds to have them ruined now.

Fox glowered at her before turning his attention back to Team CFVY's leader, "the scent is strong enough for me to track." He waited for the O.K from his leader—Coco stared at Sun in return.

The blond startled under Coco's expectant look, "a-alright let's do this!" Fox raised his brow at the blond's enthusiasm but nodded at the A-O.K, turning on his heel he began to follow the scent of this mysterious Grimm.

The group followed Fox out of the heart of the town, through town and into the heart of the forest. When they hit the wet lands Fox paused, forehead creased and head slowly rotating from left to right. He held up a hand and the remaining members of his group grabbed hold of the closest members of team SSSN that they could.

"Something's off," Fox sniffed at the air. He glanced back over his shoulder towards where Coco stood, "cover my ass."

She grinned, "Don't you worry about your ass, baby cakes, I've got my eyes peeled and I'll admire it while you trench through that water." Clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth she waved him off towards the edge where the water met land.

The orange haired teen huffed, stepping into the water and made his way in with the least amount of noise possible. The water rippled out and his splashing grew louder; he paused to take in the sounds.

"Why are we letting the near blind dude go out into a swamp by himself?" Scarlet hissed into Neptune's ear.

"He'll hear something before we could see it," Yatsuhashi replied just as quietly.

The water was creeping up towards Fox's knee; he paused again before taking his next step. Nose pointing upwards—he huffed and took another step forward. The orange haired teen disappeared, "Fox!" Velvet called out breaking out into a run towards the shore. Sage took a couple of steps after her—Scarlet grabbed at his arm, holding him back with a shake of their head.

Fox popped back out of the water, spiting water from his mouth and taking huge gulps of air. "I'm fine," he called back to her, dragging himself back to shallower waters. "It just drops suddenly—" he cut himself off, head snapping into the direction of the water in front of him.

"Get out of there," Yatushashi called out to him, pulling Velvet back from the water's edge. A huge black shape breached from the water; the creature's huge spike covered tail whipped out and connecting dead in the center of Fox's chest tearing at the fabric and slicing and stabbing deep grooves into his chest. Fox's body sailed back a few meters away from the group.

"Fuck!" Fox cursed loudly, pulling at his ruined vest and tearing the rest of the fabric from his body. He was left with a black tank top that had matching blood soaked holes through it. His aura was slowly starting to heal his injuries, but it wasn't going fast enough.

The remainder of Team CFVY readied themselves. "You ruined the vest that I bought him, how dare you!" Coco's purse transformed, the barrel of her Gatling gun whirling to life as she started firing rounds at the giant beast. "That was designer," she added in a snarl.

Velvet ran over to Fox's side, checking over his wounds. "You're lucky," she said turning her attention away from his blood soaked shirt and towards the battle raging just a ways away. _It could've been worse_ was the silent message hanging over both of their heads. His wounds were already healing rapidly due to his aura, he'll be up and ready for combat in a few minutes. Now with a few more added scars—she hated that Fox did this, he didn't use his aura until _after_ he got hurt and when he knew it'll scar.

Sage pulled back another arrow, firing towards the beast in mid-swipe. The explosive round of the arrow blew—the beast seemed to just shrug it off. The Grimm flicked its tail around, the spikes detaching and sailing towards the two teams. "Move!" Coco shouted jumping out of the way, her gun still whirling and firing an endless rain of dust charges and bullets.

It had no affect on its hide. The only thing that seemed to fall prey to her fire was the earth and water around the Grimm when the bullets came ricocheting off. The spikes on its tail re-grew quickly and the Grimm repeated the action. "I'm useless in a long distance fight," Scarlet hissed out knocking the spikes and ducking out of the way as Neptune fired off another volley of explosive charges from behind Scarlet. Neptune nor Sun's bullets weren't having much of an affect either.

Fox hissed, using Velvet's shoulder as a crutch. The danger that posed from his earlier wounds had passed, but the blood was still pumping out of his body. But even that slowed to a stop after Velvet and he began their trek back to the battlefield. She took her stance between Yatsuhashi and Coco—her weapon took time for her to set up and lots of concentration. She needed Yatsuhashi's help to fend off any attacks that came her way.

Fox snarled pressing his hand against the worst of his wounds, the one that dug deep in his gut, and clenched his fists. He took another sniff to check if this was the Grimm that he was tracking—it was. He opened his ears, focusing on the sound that the creature of darkness let out—the sound of each scale rubbing and shifting against each other as it move. The water was rippling; breaking around a couple of rocks to the beast's left side.

He broke out into a run towards the rocks, "what the hell?" Sun called out halting his fire. Fox continued, leaping onto the first rock and then to the next—Coco's cover fire stop then. He snarled, the sound rumbling low in his throat as he lunged. The blade extending from his gauntlet punctured through the scales of its neck. The dark blood seeping out around the blade, and Fox gathered as much aura as he could to his left hand.

He punched his glowing fist up against the scales covering the expansion of flesh under its bottom jaw—it did nothing but anger it more. The Grimm roared, shaking and grabbing at Fox's legs. The thing tossed him like a pebble, and the hunter-in-training went sailing back towards the group. He landed with a loud _crack_ and a scream.

The Grimm surged up and out of the water—it was huge, gigantic—and twisted its body to send another volley of tail spikes. Coco dove towards her fallen team mate, using her giant weapon as an impromptu shield for both herself and Fox. A pain pierced her calf, and she hissed glancing down at the location.

She saw white and blood.

The creature stepped up and out of the water, opening its jaws and letting out a mighty roar that shook the ground under them. The forest behind the two teams answered back—roars and howls and happy animalistic chirps. The group glanced from the unknown Grimm and the ones emerging from the forest.

Coco hissed out a breath of pain, slapping Fox's ass harsher than normal to gain his attention. "Point me in the direction of the low-lives and I'll start shooting, you need to run Team SSSN down on that unknowns weaknesses. I know you've figured it out by now," she ignored both the sheering, tear inducing, pain that spiked up from her leg when he moved her and the image of extreme swelling of Fox's left arm between the bands of Fox's gauntlets.

He'll most likely have to re-break his arm if he fought (which he will have to) and healed it using his aura.

"Follow Dad's lead," she chuckled bitterly taking a rough aim and open firing at the line of Grimm—instantly decimating them. Fox nodded, slowing pushing himself up until he stood on quivering legs. Yatsuhashi and Velvet already focusing on the known Grimm, "point SSSN in the right direction and do what you think is right."

Fox nodded, patting her cheek—fingers slipping from her skin as he pushed forward. His gut was turning, not healed properly or completely at least. The first injury he had sustained had punctured organs and muscles... he wouldn't be surprised if a good piece of bone was cracked in his ribs, bruised at least.

Velvet dropped her tote—the box made a loud _bang_upon landing—the center breaking open with a _pop_ as she gathered her aura to her fingertips. "Help SSSN with the unknown, Velvet and I will help Coco," Yatsuhashi called out to Fox who was already doing by Sage and Scarlet's side. Fox held up his right arm, fist clenched and smeared with blood, in confirmation.

An army of toys crawled from the box—little toy soldiers with rabbit ears and rifles—lining up and took aim. "Toys?" Sun whispered taking his eyes off the battle that he and his team were still engaged with. The toys fired, bullets hitting their targets... the Grimm went up in flames.

Velvet grinned back at him over her shoulder, her fingers wiggling out in front of her. "Let's go Nina, Liana, Val, Patty!" she called and out came four matching robotic female rabbit bots. The only difference between each fem!bunny bot was their hair colour. The fem!bunnies broke out into a run, the opening on the bottom of their paws opening up and onyx spikes almost as large as their body's appeared.

Yatsuhashi slashed forward, sending a wave of channelled aura from his blade and towards the creatures of darkness. He was torn between covering Velvet and wanting to go to Coco's side. He kept glancing over and each time he did so she hadn't changed in positioning; still firing off rounds and mowing down her targets.

Team SSSN (plus a woozy Fox) dodged another range of attacks—a swipe of a claw, a snap of teeth, and another volley of spikes. "I need to get close," Scarlet twirled the daggers in their hand, the clear blades glowing a bright red.

"I can get you there," Fox stepped forward. His arm swollen and dark—Sun couldn't help but grimace at the sight—but the pain wouldn't keep him fighting, he didn't have the luxury for that. Fox nodded towards Sage then to the other two members of the team that fought with a longer range option, "you need to channel your fire to that wound I made. I was able to get through its hide."

Sage nodded, pulling an explosive arrow head from his quiver. He and Scarlet's gaze locked, "go for the eyes." Scarlet gave him a mock solute. Sun and Neptune started up another wave of cover fire and both Fox and Scarlet raced forwards.

Fox hesitated with the first step, the second he caught his footing, by the fourth he was powering forward—breath puffing out of his mouth. Everything hurt. The firing stop, they couldn't risk either Scarlet or Fox getting (anymore) injured. The Grimm swung with its left arm, putting all its weight into the movement. Fox snarled barring his slightly red stained teeth and braced himself from impact.

The blade of his gauntlet successfully dug deep into its hide, rooting him into the creature's thick wrist. The impact knocked his breath out of his lungs.

Scarlet wasted no time in using the creature and Fox's back as a spring board and launching towards the Grimm's face. The beast shifted, maw opening to snap at them. Scarlet dug one blade into its nose, using that momentum to swing themselves over to dig the other blade into the creature's eyes.

Scarlet's blade emptied of colour, returning to its clear like state just as the creature's eye popped and bubbled. Steaming red liquid bubbled from the Grimm's snout and eye and Scarlet quickly pulled both blades from the creature and made a hasty retreat. Fox had a slight hiccup in un-anchoring himself from the beast—Sage fired his arrow then.

Lodging into the groove made earlier by Fox; the arrow ticked for a moment before blowing. Fox had just pulled his weapon out and took a step back when it went off, it sent him wobbling a few steps back as he caught his barring. Neptune fired one more explosive round in the, now much larger and gaping, wound.

The creature fell to darkness—pieces of it dissolving into ash, blowing away in the breeze that was starting to blow in. A breeze always ended up blowing away the dust when a Grimm died. No one knew why though.

The battle on team CFVY's end neared its completion and both Velvet and Yatsuhashi ran over to Coco's side. "I'll be fine, I'm not pulling this thing out until I have proper medical equipment to deal with all this damn blood," Sun could hear her from where he stood.

Fox collapsed, falling to the ground a lot more elegantly than expected. He was still sitting up—at least he had that going for him. Sage kneeled before him brushing burnt orange hair out of his face, "you need a lift?" Fox groaned, it was a sick and gross sounding groan that churned Sun's stomach, and lowering himself back into a laying position.

"Hey Fox!" Coco called from her little patch of land where she had fallen. "You remember enough to describe that shithead?!" Fox raised his good hand and held his thumb up. "Good 'cause when we get back to Beacon Velv and Yatsuhashi are drawing it up and we're reporting it to Ozpin."

-!-

They stuffed Coco and Fox into the center of the Bullhead. The lines between Team CFVY and SSSN weren't consistent as everyone was just standing, sitting, or leading anywhere in the hold. Team SSSN took the outer sides seeing that they were in better shape.

Sage glanced down and over at Fox; he was looking extremely pale. Velvet glanced down at her partner beside her, away from Sun who was asking her questions about her weapon. "You're not looking too good—" her eyes went wide and Coco began yelling.

"Not in here! Not in here!"

Fox flopped down, pulling himself over Sage's shoes and sticking his head out the open doors. Sage closed his eyes at the first sounds of pile escaping the elder teen's mouth. He opened his golden eyes with a sigh, leaning over the fallen male and holding his hair back as he hurled up everything in his system.

Sage was willing to bet that his guts took quite the beating and all the added pain on top of that, as well as mixing with Fox's _discomfort_ of flying, must not be helping anything in the slightest. "I feel so bad for whatever you're puking on," Coco snickered despite the pain, finding a sick sense of joy out of the thought. "Unless it's Grimm... then I just find it fitting." His puking continued until he couldn't heave anything else up—his shoulders fell slacked and his head went limp under Sage's hold of his hair.

He passed out.

Sage sighed again, man handling him as gently as he could back into his spot he began the flight in. He kept falling over—Sage was starting to get annoyed at the whole situation and the slight smell of vomit was not helping him keep a level head. So he did what anyone one would do; he took a seat right next to Fox and used his own shoulder he keep the orange haired male propped up.

"Well that was entertaining," Scarlet snickered from across the gap. Sage only tightened his hold that he had on Fox's shoulder; he would not fall into that trap.


End file.
